Michael Levitt is all about boundaries. He is the founder of Breakfast Leadership.com where he shares his expertise on boundaries with other leaders. Michael also works in the health-care field and has experienced first-hand how important it is to have a grip on boundaries in life and death situations as well as daily living. Michael is trained in crisis intervention from the Canadian Training Institute. Michael is recognized as a healthcare leader, holding the Advanced Healthcare System Leadership certificate from Rotman School of Management, one of the World’s highly ranked business schools, as part of the University of Toronto. Michael also shares his knowledge on his podcast – Breakfast Leadership.

Most Influential Person

Effect on Emotions

I'm passionate about the healthcare sector and what it needs to do to better serve the entire community and not just pockets of it.

I'm very passionate about wrongs that we see in society, but I keep them in check now because I know that I can only do so much. I can do what I can do and I have to let others do what they can do.

Thoughts on Breathing

Breathing is extremely important to me. I am an asthmatic so my breaths are a little bit more challenging than others. It's mild, [my asthma], but it's something that I know could progress into copd (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) down the road. And for me, I take care of my breathing very carefully.

I focus on it when things are tense, I pause and I go, OK, what are my breathing patterns like? And I can take a deep breath and sometimes I'll do the nostril thing where you do a closed nostril breathing.

I just really focus on the breathing and it lowers my blood pressure and it just puts me into a moment of awareness and in the moment of now. Instead of worrying about what's going to happen or freaking out about what happened before, it's a good way to really get me connected to where I am right at this moment.

Suggested Resources

Book: The Tortoise And The Hare by Jerry Pinkney – This is a leadership book. Some people will question me saying that, but it also helps with mindfulness too, as far as focusing on what's important. From a leadership book standpoint, it's a great book because oftentimes we are the rabbit and we're running around trying to get things done and moving things around where the tortoise is just steady as we go. Let's get through this. It's the same thing from a mindfulness standpoint. Our brains and minds and activities are all over the place where the turtle's step, step, step, step, step, step and turtle wins the race. I want all of us to win the race. So it's one of those books that I will read from time to time to really reconnect with myself.

It’s been great getting to know you, Michael. I especially love your expertise in the area of boundaries because that is something I must keep front and center in my mind. All the best to you, Michael!